17.10.12

Until recently, I hadn’t been to Allan Gardens, a Victorian-era conservatory at Jarvis & Carlton, since I was a kid. Recently Geoff shared these photos by Laura Lynn Petrick with me (the series entitled “Secret Garden”), and since we thought they were pretty cool, we decided to visit on a gloomy Saturday afternoon.

Even though it was a weekend, it was quiet and peaceful inside, with only a handful of visitors. It will be nice to go back in spring once they’ve cleared out all the mums (I already have mums-fatigue and it’s only October).

It’s always the best finding spots like this to enjoy for an hour or two without having to spend any money.

Ha! Good luck! I would sooooo love to have a greenhouse of my own, although I'd have to have help in actually growing things. My dad built a small one against our garage when I was a kid to shield his fig trees, so I know it's possible to have one for not a lot of money! Although not as beautiful as the Allan Gardens building is (I love those cool windows).

ohhh i'm jealous of your childhood fig-tree-having! my parents were far too boring, planting petunias and tiger lilies ("easy to grow"). i'm trying to reverse that now and get as exotic as i can...while still living in an apt, of course. maybe i need to just build a miniature allan gardens, like a terrarium, but with only miniature, exotic plants, until i can get the real deal... :)

these are gorgeous. the allan gardens are one of my favorite toronto spots. we'd visit with our cousins when i was little and more recently we went back to take photos after a family wedding. lots of blushing bride shots by the banana trees.

Oo, I totally feel you on the mums fatigue. There are some more rare varieties that I find a little more interesting, but no one seems to be into them. Just boring ornery mums in the same old colours. Ack!

I love this place. It's kind of amazing to walk through parts of it and be the only person (or one of a small number of people) in a gorgeous room full of all these amazing plants. Always wondered what it would be like to be in there when it was stormin' outside. Great photos!